Renaissance English History Podcast: A Show About the Tudors

Latest Episodes:

[YouTube Drop] Three Twelfth Nights at the Tudor Court (1512–1582) Jan 05, 2026

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At the Tudor court, Twelfth Night was more than the end of Christmas. Using specific recorded celebrations from across the sixteenth century, this minicast explores how plays, masques, tournaments, dancing, and banquets were used to perform power at court.

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Henry VIII Did Pardon People. Jan 02, 2026

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Henry VIII is famous for executions, but he did issue pardons; rarely, strategically, and always on his own terms. Starting with the pardon of Geoffrey Pole in 1539, this minicast explores who Henry spared, who he didn’t, and what mercy really meant under the Tudors.

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[YouTube Drop] Henry's Abraham Tapestries Dec 30, 2025

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When you step into the Great Hall at Hampton Court Palace, the walls tell a story. In this minicast, we explore Henry VIII’s Abraham tapestries: vast, expensive works of art that doubled as political messaging.

Woven in the 1540s, these biblical scenes weren’t just decoration. They reinforced Henry’s claims to religious authority, dynastic legitimacy, and the future of the Tudor line, all at a moment when succession anxiety and church reform loomed large. Five hundred years later, the tapestries are still hanging—and still saying exactly what Henry wanted them to say.

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A Tour of Tudor York Dec 29, 2025

Show notes

This tour of Tudor York was originally a Members Only video from two years ago. I’m making it public today so everyone can explore it. Patrons and channel members still get the good stuff first, including extra episodes, and content that never appears on the public channel.

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Christmas Eve with the Tudors | Winter Traditions, Feasting & Faith Dec 24, 2025

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Because it’s Christmas Eve, I’m taking the day to be with family. In place of something new, this episode brings together several Christmas and wintertime Tudor stories from past years in one long, easy listen. These episodes explore how Christmas was celebrated in Tudor England - the traditions, food, faith, music, and rhythms of the season. Perfect for listening while you cook, travel, or enjoy a quiet Christmas Eve. I’ll be back with new episodes soon. Until then, happy Christmas.

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[YouTube Drop] Terms of Adornment with Terry Jones Dec 23, 2025

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This episode features a live Tudorcon talk by Terry Jones, longtime docent at Agecroft Hall, exploring how jewelry functioned in Tudor and early Stuart England.

From pearls and signet rings to portrait jewels and the Order of the Garter, this talk looks at how men and women used jewelry to signal power, identity, loyalty, and belief. Recorded live, the episode includes audience questions and the informal rhythm of an in-person lecture.

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[YouTube Drop] The Letter That Took 383 Years Dec 22, 2025

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In 1602, Elizabeth I wrote a formal letter to the Emperor of China, hoping to open peaceful trade between their two realms. The letter was sent with an English explorer attempting to reach China via the Northwest Passage. He never made it. The minicast stayed in England for centuries, was once used to line a farm’s bran bin, and was not finally delivered to China until 1984. This episode tells the story of that extraordinary diplomatic misfire, and what it reveals about Elizabethan ambition, global trade, and how history sometimes survives by accident.

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[YouTube Drop] Tudor Justice After the Verdict Dec 19, 2025

Show notes

Yesterday we chatted about how crimes were solved. Today, we look at convictions.

What happened after conviction in Tudor England? This minicast looks at how punishment worked through shame, visibility, and public order, from the stocks and church penance to execution and royal mercy.

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[YouTube Drop] Who Solved Crimes in Tudor England? Dec 18, 2025

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How did Tudor England solve crimes without police or forensic science? This episode explores how murder and suspicion were investigated through community testimony, coroners’ inquests, confession, and local justice, and why the world of Matthew Shardlake feels surprisingly accurate.

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Episode 321: The Tudor Body: Health, Illness, and Balance in Tudor England Dec 17, 2025

Show notes

The Christmas Character quiz is here: https://www.englandcast.com/christmas-character-quiz/ - I'd love to see what you got!

And the ecard site is here: https://www.englandcast.com/tudor-tidings/

How did the Tudors understand the human body, and why does their approach feel so strange to us today? In this episode, I explore how people in Tudor England thought about health, illness, emotion, and balance, and how the body was believed to be shaped by air, weather, and even feelings themselves. We’ll also look at where Tudor medicine overlaps with our own, and why their way of living in the body wasn’t as unscientific as it’s often assumed.

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